Gene Tunney was one of the SMARTEST fighters ever.....a thinking man's fighter...do not discount a prime Tunney against Foreman....prime Forman shot his wad against a past his prime Ali in Zaire in 1974....looked like **** against tomato cans on his way up...and was floored by JIMMY YOUNG.....would it surprise me to see GT with a decision win?...no
Question to Tunney supporters: What 6'3 220lb monster did Tunney ever fight? He wouldn't even take on George Godfrey.
Maybe it's me but I think the 70's Foreman excelled against a certain style and was terribly vulnerable against others .. if you came at him like a Dempsey, Marciano, Frazier or possibly a Tyson you were dead meat .. however if you possessed the rare combination of intelligence, speed, stamina, skill, chin and decent enough power he could be badly schooled after the fifth round ... I personally think a prime Tunney was way too fast and smart .. no way George gets him early and after five Tunney schools him badly, much worse than Young and possibly stops him ...
Of course he did! Foreman had no intention of visiting the canvas until my man Young suggested it to him that he pay a visit.
What 6'-8" Ukrainian heavyweight did Ali ever fight? Yet I would guess that most of us here in this forum would surmise that Ali would beat V. Klitschko.
Foreman beat a 6'3 220lb fighter just as skilled as tunney in Norton. Who did Tunney ever beat even remotely resembling George Foreman? Godfrey was out there, Tunney wanted no part of him. Tunney's management never threw him in the ring with a big heavyweight, and stayed clear of punchers.
Jack Sharkey beat a prime Godfey[29] comfortably ,why couldn't Tunney? Of the men who beat a prime Godfrey, how many do you pick to beat Tunney?
I wouldn't have expected it from you .. Tunney wouldn't have lasted 8 against Foreman , and you give him a chance to win a decision over 10. Maybe if the fight took place in Kinshasa or San Juan .. :yep
That's the same way I see it. Gene Tunney is one of the worst style matchups for Foreman imaginable, right there with a young Ali (I don't consider old Ali to have been nearly as bad a style matchup for Foreman because of the punishment Ali allowed himself to take at that time, but that fight is a perfect example of George's inability to adapt and adjust his gameplan against a high level fighter). The swarmers that Foreman would excel against would be a tougher draw for GT (at their best) than Foreman himself would. Foreman would get picked apart, Sanchez-Gomez style.
An old Jack Dempsey caught up to Tunney. Foreman was bigger, younger, stronger, and had a much longer reach...Tunney kept his hands very low could spell disasterous against foremna.
I hate comparisons between eras *** (always skewed, and with so many factors, training, size, etc...) that it's a crap shoot at best to determine who wins...but...IMO George eventually walks thru the smaller Gene and stops him...come on...a 190 lb. Tunney stops this brute??? ***example: Marciano vs. Klit? 1953? Klit would have been a 220 pound green beanish warrior of that era. 2003? The Rock would have been a 200+ pound rock-hard warrior. It's sometimes impossible to compare eras....
Foreman had the physical advantages as well as decent boxing skills. He could cut the ring off on an opponent, as Ali noted when he said that George was making him take three steps to his one. A prime Foreman would have been a formidable foe for any heavyweight. Gene Tunney would have studied Foreman extensively, looking for such things as a vulnerability to a straight right as he noted early on with Dempsey. He would work any flaws noted to his advantage. He would try to frustrate Foreman with a hit-and-not-get-hit strategy in an effort to wear him down in the later rounds. The fights that young George lost (Ali and Young) were due as much to his exhaustion than to any damaging punches by his opponents. As styles make fights, I believe that Gene Tunney had the style to survive the early rounds when George was most dangerous and box his way to victory.
Well, Jack Dempsey was formidable and a lot faster than George and although Dempsey was not a marathon fighter later on in his career he still showed much better stamina than Foreman....these era match-ups are hard to do because you either fight in the 70's or the 20's and who ever makes the trip has to subtract or add the benefits of the era. Foreman was a big weight lifter with his arms only, curls and press...he would not do this in the 20's
